Known in the art are air flow rate meters which employ temperature-dependent resistors, for example a heated wire which is tautly suspended between two supports. Due to the wide range of temperatures occurring in the induction tube of a motor vehicle, a wire suspended in this manner does not have a very long lifetime and is subject to rapid fracture.
It has also been proposed in the art to suspend the hot wire in the shape of a V within an annular support wherein the two ends are rigidly attached to their respective support points while the point of the V is guided loosely over a glass bead placed at a central support location. However, due to the variable extension of the hot wire as a function of temperature, the point of contact with the central support is not well defined and changes depending on the prevailing length of the wire. Accordingly, the heat transfer from the wire to the glass bead changes unpredictably, resulting in measuring errors in the determination of the air flow rate.